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This is an English translation of Numbers 8:1-12:16, the Torah reading for Parashat Beha’alotekha, transtropilized. (Transtropilation is the term coined by Len Fellman to describe the process of translating from cantillized Hebrew, as closely as possible, “word for word and trōp for trōp”, with the main purpose being to aid a person with minimal Hebrew training in following the Hebrew leyning word for word.) This translation is based on the following translations: Robert Alter’s The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary (2018), Aryeh Kaplan’s The Living Torah (also my source for proper names & transliterations), Richard Elliott Friedman’s The Bible With Sources Revealed, Everett Fox’s The Five Books of Moses, The Stone Edition Tanach, The JPS Tanakh (Hebrew-English 2nd Ed. 2000) along with Orlinsky’s Notes on the New Translation of the Torah, The Jerusalem Bible (1966, also my source for topic headings), The New King James Bible; occasionally, esp. for Haftarot: The Torah—A Modern Commentary by Plaut et al; for Megillot, I also use H.L. Ginsberg’s The Five Megillot and Jonah.

Len Fellman is a mathematician, educator, and innovator of "transtropilation," the process of translating from cantillized Hebrew, as closely as possible, “word for word and trope for trope”, with the main purpose being to aid a person with minimal Hebrew training in following the Hebrew leyning of the Torah and Haftarah readings word for word.

The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Tanakh for Rabbinic Judaism. It was primarily copied, edited and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries CE. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocalization and accentuation known as the Masorah.

The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libré Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture. If you like what you've found here, please help keep our project alive and online with your financial contribution.

ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established."–Psalms 90:17

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